The present invention relates to a lighting panel or panel board, and more particularly relates to poles of sub-feed for a panel board.
Panel boards, which are commonly employed in light industrial applications, such as small factories and strip malls, are often utilized to control the building""s lighting systems. Thus, these panel boards are often called xe2x80x9clighting panelsxe2x80x9d even though their applications may extend beyond the control of lighting systems. In use, lighting panels are most often found within a closed door enclosure such as an electrical box in an area accessible to electricians or other end-users. Also, lighting panels today are generally limited to three poles of sub-feed.
Typically, when an electrician needs to install a lighting panel, the electrician or contractor can place an order with a manufacturer by detailing his or her needs to the manufacturer. The requested lighting panel is then factory assembled according to the order and usually delivered within ten or so days. If not planned properly, such a delay can sometimes cause problems with an expected completion time for a job.
One manufacturer has designed a kit for allowing 6 poles of sub-feed in a lighting panel which basically uses two separate, but different, 3-poles kits. The first three pole kit attaches directly to the bus bars extending from the branch of the lighting panel. The second three pole kit, however, must utilize an additional set of extension bus bars which pass underneath the bus bars for the first three poles. This design makes the six pole sub-feed use more isolating plastic and other parts, thus making this system relatively expensive.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a sub-feed for a panel board has a first end, a second end opposite the first end, a first side, a second side opposite the first side, and a central portion intermediate the first side and the second side. The sub-feed further comprises a first extension bus bar adjacent the first side of the sub-feed, a second extension bus bar located in the central portion of the sub-feed, and a third extension bus bar adjacent the second side of the sub-feed. Each extension bus bar extends from the first end to the second end of the sub-feed. A first bus connector having a first opening is aligned above the first extension bus bar, a second bus connector having a second opening is aligned above the second extension bus bar, a third bus connector having a third opening is aligned above the third extension bus bar, a fourth bus connector having a fourth opening is aligned above the first extension bus bar, a fifth bus connector having a fifth opening is aligned above the second extension bus bar, and a sixth bus connector having a sixth opening is aligned above the third extension bus bar.